Wish
by Liara-Shadowsong
Summary: After the revelations of his meeting with Cross and Rouvelier, Allen is understandably upset. Lavi helps him understand the nature of a Fourteenth Noah with some records of one of his predecessors. Sequel to "Fourteen". No pairings. Spoilers through 168.


WISH

Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man does not belong to me. Neither do any other characters disclaimed at the end of the story.

This is a sequel to Fourteen. With a few more revelations in the chapters since it was written, it appears… less than canon. This takes chapters 167 and 168 into account, and drags the story back toward canon, if not all the way there.

If you wish to place this story chronologically, it takes place during chapter 168… after Allen goes and finds Lenalee and Johnny, but before morning comes. This entire short story occurs during a little bit of insomnia after Lenalee falls back asleep after speaking to Allen when he returns. Therefore, whatever occurs during the next chapter will (hopefully) not be disrupted by this story, as the last page of 168 appears to be shortly after dawn, this one-shot taking place in late evening or so.

Also, if you watch the anime as well, it appears that as Rhode is Dream, Tyki is Pleasure, Skin is Rage… the Fourteenth… is Wish. Hence the title.

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"…or should I say, the Fourteenth?"

It had been mere hours since Allen Walker's life had been turned upside down, and he was still reeling from the implications.

'There's no way. The Memories can't just be transferred like that…can they?'

Lavi had been present, had heard the revelation. After Lavi too had left, and Allen changed into a uniform before going to find Lenalle and Johnny, Allen begged him to avoid telling anyone unless it looked like he'd lose himself into the Memories and strike out at those he cared for. Nevertheless, he knew full well that the vicious Rouvelier would likely break the word long before Lavi would ever want to.

Lavi, though, had been kind enough to provide information on some recorded instances of past Fourteenth Noahs. All of those who had served the Earl, it looked like, had been tricked, mind controlled, or otherwise coerced. The Fourteenths, too, had wished the Earl's demise. Only the mere presence of their Memories could cause them to be labeled enemy, not any willing actions.

Allen read a short summary account of one about a century before who, according to Bookman records, had been mind-controlled into serving beside the rest of the Noahs for a few months in her early teens, before faking her own death to run away to the Black Order. She'd been an Exorcist. A general, even, if the account was to be believed. Born Christine Baker, forced into the role of Tara Camelot, becoming Alanna Cross as an exorcist. She'd re-named herself after a legendary lady knight, and a lady warrior she had been. Even after her marriage to a fellow Exorcist, Yusuke Takashi, she'd fought against the Earl right up until her death.

She was one of the best-documented Fourteenths that the Bookman knew the identity of, and one of the reasons was obvious. She and her husband had never had any children of their own, but they'd adopted. Their surnames had been lost immediately when their daughter had married, but it seemed that their great-grandson was named after the general. Their descendant… was an Exorcist general himself. Allen's own master, no less.

Lavi found Allen not long after giving him the single set of summarized records, along with briefer-still listings of some other Fourteenths. He was sitting curled up on the floor, on the verge of tears.

"Allen. Oi, Allen," Lavi said softly, trying not to wake up Lenalee and Johnny, who had fallen asleep not far from Allen.

Allen sniffled quietly. "Thank you, Lavi. You didn't have to bring me these. I…" His head dropped back onto his knees, where it had been before he'd lifted it to acknowledge Lavi. "It's just… even if the Fourteenth does want the Earl dead, it doesn't mean there wouldn't be casualties along the way. And… I… I… still have something foreign inside me that will consume me from the inside, even if it is more benevolent than I'd thought."

"Allen." Lavi crouched down beside the Exorcist, placing one hand on his back and letting Allen cry into his shoulder for few minutes, before holding a second set of records in front of where his face would have been if it hadn't been re-buried in his knees after he'd calmed down a bit. It was one of the many records of possible scattered Innocence. "Read this."

And Allen did read it. It was a very short record, which had never been fully looked into because it had stopped after just a few months. Lavi told him in a whisper that, "Gramps said this seems to be the site of death of one Alexander Highlander. His grave was found right there."

He indicated a note at the end. It had been added just recently, long after the site had been declared to not have any Innocence. The activity had stopped after a pregnant woman who had been told by doctors that her baby was almost certainly going to be stillborn, if she didn't miscarry before then, had visited the site, praying for a miracle. Her baby had been born very much alive three months later, but he'd been born …deformed; the postnote didn't say how.

The date was after the date on the grave-marker of the man Lavi had mentioned. Right between those two dates – his death and the apparently deformed baby's birth – was the Christmas that would have been the day that Allen was born, if it had been his actual birthday and not a guess made by his stepfather.

"Did you know, Allen, that the Church often says that the soul is present from conception? Well, some people wonder about stillbirths and miscarriages… some of them think that those occur because no soul entered the embryo at all, and the body didn't realize it until later on. Yuu once said that, according to a little-known Japanese legend, some sort of dying mythological being supposedly managed to get himself reincarnated as a human by entering a fetus without a soul, therefore preventing the otherwise inevitable miscarriage. What do you think?"

"I think… I think it sounds like a very good idea, Lavi." Lavi seemed determined not to say anything directly, and that was fine with Allen. He didn't think he could manage to vocalize the conclusions he'd come to without breaking out in tears and making himself completely unintelligible. So it was probably better not to say anything at all.

Except… "Thank you, Lavi."

"Eh? Thanks for what, moyashi-chan? All I did was let you cry into my shoulder a little bit after you came out of your meeting with General Cross and Rouvelier all upset. Lenalee would have done a better job of being comforting, if you'd have let her know something was wrong before she fell back asleep." _This conversation never happened. In fact, I wasn't even at the meeting. Fourteenth? You mean that dead guy who the room with the piano in the Ark belonged to? What about him?_

"Ah… well, just thank you for being understanding, Lavi. You're a good friend."

"Not really." Lavi snickered. "You keep this up, though, and you'll be officially declared more girly than Yuu-chan. Ne, Alanna-chan?"

Allen smiled softly at Lavi's retreating back, as he walked toward the room he and Bookman would be sharing, files in hand. _You really would make a terrible Bookman, Lavi._

Allen settled onto the couch with Lenalee and Johnny, who were still sleeping soundly.

Everything would not be all right. But Allen was glad, at least, that he could trust himself in the coming battles.

Komui entered the room some time later, after Allen had also fallen asleep, finally.

He started as he saw the young man who had just been declared to have the Memories of Wish, those of the Fourteenth Noah, so near to his dear little sister, Lenalee. He knew that the Fourteenth was not an enemy, but he still worried… more about the boy's safety than the safety of being around him, admittedly.

Komuui picked up a single file folder from the floor in front of the couch. "Lady Knight Alanna, the Lioness" it read. He flipped through it. It seemed to be a record of a legendary woman who had disguised herself as a boy in order to train as a knight, back in the Middle Ages. Her deception had been discovered, but by that time, she had long since proved herself, and was made a knight anyways. She went on to become the King's Champion, his right-hand warrior.

In the back of the file were various cross-references. Most were to related legends. One, though, caught Komui's eye. "Cross, Alanna – Exorcist/Fourteenth" was the heading, where it gave a brief overview of the woman who, after breaking free of mind-control by the Earl of Millenium, had named herself after the warrior and joined the Black Order, which she had served loyally for the remainder of her life.

Komui sighed. Yes, Allen was loyal to his cause. He knew that. It didn't stop him from worrying though, particularly when the Vatican was being stubborn and heavily biased against their own best interests.

Komui started walking towards the room to be shared by Bookman and Bookman Jr. No doubt the record had been left by Lavi, and probably not for the purpose of brushing up on legendary female warriors.

Hopefully, everything would work out. Komui doubted that it would. Still, for the first time in many years, the Black Order actually had the Fourteenth Noah on their side, as long as Komui's supervisors didn't do anything monumentally stupid, and the Earl probably didn't even know for sure who he was.

Destroyer of Time, eh? That certainly was an odd title for a Noah of Wish.

_Fin_

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Okay, I think it's over now. Never say never, I suppose, but a third story is even more unlikely to occur than this second one was.

Now, on to other credits. The spirit being reincarnating as a human is a nod to Kurama of YuYu Hakusho. And no, I don't care that YuYu Hakusho takes place in the 1900's and D. Gray-Man takes place in the 1800's. It's a small homage to a character I'm fond of, not a crossover. The Lady Knight Alanna is the main character of Tamora Pierce's "Song of the Lioness" quartet of books, which I like very much. I decided to make her story a legend in the context of this story.

Now, as for the name similarity between the two Exorcist Fourteenth Noahs… No, it isn't a coincidence, either for me or in context of this story. I chose the name partly because it's the female equivalent of Allen (and the symbolism therein since she herself is his female – and past - equivalent, theoretically a past reincarnation), and also because the side note in the file about the Lioness worked in context. It is not a coincidence for Lavi to choose this Fourteenth either, because she was recent enough to be well-recorded, far enough back that she has no living peers and therefore is not as well remembered as she could be… and then the name thing just kind of settled it in Lavi's mind as the right one. Plus, he was in a hurry and trying to keep it a secret from Bookman.

Why a female Fourteenth? Well, reincarnation doesn't listen to gender of past lives, as far as I've heard, and the last two were men. Therefore, a female one makes for a nice change.

And Lavi? I tried to keep him in character. He cares too much to be a good Bookman, but he still tries so hard to remain impartial and unattached. I don't know how well I portrayed him, but I did my best.

I'd love to hear what you think of both Wish and Fourteen. Yes, I welcome anonymous reviewers with open arms.


End file.
